Iridescent
by Beautifully Deranged
Summary: In the duty of battle love glimmered hopelessly in dredges of opaque carnage, yet for all its dark intentions the war, in the end, brought home the promise of a lifetime.  Sasu/Saku


Author Notes: This story contains AU mischief and Cannon references, my take and interpretation is to be respected, not all of everything will remain as you have known.

Disclaimer: I do not seek to own Naruto, the gifted right of ownership has always fallen to Masashi Kishimoto.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1- A Denouement's Beginning<strong>

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><p><em>And over here is where my dreams lie<em>

_A devout illusion I seek to brandish_

_And amidst the carnage you shall see me _

_The struggling hand reaching forward unwaveringly._

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><p>It was at this moment, amidst the unrecognizable battlefield, that Sakura remembered something as driftless as stories. It wasn't the happy fairytales with the unstoppable happy conclusions and overly fluffed romance, nor the raging courageous adventures of a lukewarm soon to be hero. It was the quiet confessions of war told by her mother that she recalled in mind. She remembered that the woman of her childhood had explained that Konoha, once upon a time, had been immersed in bloodshed and aching hearts. Her young ears at the time couldn't comprehend why there was once such longevity of anger and carnage, instead of peace laced with laughter. But she had listened attentively anyways to her mother's whispered horrors and when she had felt the air scrunch in on itself with her mother's cracked voice; Sakura had been there to hold her hand taking notice that her dad was absent to do so, because of war.<p>

Because of war, Sakura internally lamented. The inner workings of brutal conflict were so utterly disgusting to the pink haired teen, the proof around her glaring disturbingly in her face. When she had arrived the earth had been what Mother Nature intended, green fluttering with life, now the soil and grass were upturned in jagged wounds seeped in with the blood of her comrades.

"Chaaaa!"

Her chakra enhanced fist connected into the face of yet another white Zetsu, sending his body disturbingly into the trunk of a tree in the surrounding forest. The twisted angle of his stark white body told her that at least that one was out for the count. It was puzzling because a whole swarm of them had seemingly come out of nowhere, an alarming discovery that Sakura was not comfortable with. They had popped out right after the incident with Zabuza and Haku, Sakura had literally had only ten minutes to heal Kakashi when they emerged but there was no time to complain, the only comforting thought she had was at least her sensei had been taken out of the danger zone.

Another Zetsu crept up from behind to deliver a blow, however she leaned her body forward and brought her right leg up and smashed it viciously into his abdomen. A breathless gasp could be heard, signaling the end of her attention and she switched instinctively to her left to deflect a strike she detected on the cusp of her senses. She grabbed the diabolical clone's leg and flung him, without a care, into a herd of Zetsu that had gathered around her.

"Shit."

It was getting way too crowded; the never-ending supply of white demons coming in faster than she could bring chakra to her fingertips. Sakura knew she was getting exhausted. Aside from the complicated situation with once dead shinobi, Sakura had healed Kakashi and for the past hour been using chakra enhanced anything to get the upper hand in this god forsaken ambush. She only had a few good hits left in her but she needed room and she needed it now, her unit couldn't get caught in with what she was about to do. It was time to split.

Faster than she had ever seen herself do, Sakura performed the signs for the Shadow Clone technique making one other clone of herself. The pink haired kunoichi gave her replica an absolute nod of determination; there was no need to be vocal, it took only a second for the plan to start. Sakura in a whirl of hurried defiance, hurled several explosive tags and watched satisfied as they did their job; effectively taking out half the enemy while causing a distraction. Her shadow clone took her cue escaping proficiently into the dense growth of trees, while Sakura herself took another route of evasion. Sakura guessed she had only about five minutes to get a head start before the remaining white Zetsu collected themselves to give chase. She hoped desperately that her duplicate had attracted some of the leftover Zetsu because if she didn't, then half of this plan was destroyed.

With that thought in mind she leapt faster among the tree tops intent on getting the distance she desired. The enormous plants grabbed and nipped at her skin, the branches especially cruel, but Sakura hardly noticed, the threat of something even worse driving her forward. And like the drone of an irritating mosquito in her ear, the medic- nin felt the approach of about five individuals, their chakra signatures closing in fast.

Time has run out, Sakura deduced mentally.

Upon her descent to the ground, a flash of memories threw her for a loop. Her shadow clone had been taken out, yet the recollection she received assured her that she had covered a greater distance while successfully taking out three foes. Relief couldn't even begin to convey how Sakura felt at the moment.

However, time was conveniently unavailable as of now and without further ado she grabbed the nearest hulk of bark, with chakra infused hands, and hurled it monstrously towards the just in time Zetsu, appreciating immensely that two fell victim to the tree. Not one to let that distract her, Sakura took her foot up in a domineering pose then brought it down in a surge of chakra laced with pure raw conviction. The ground rumbled up into cracks, jagged stone protruding in distorted directions. She thought the unstable surface would help, yet she saw the three dysfunctional Akatsuki clones make a mad dash into the limbs of the forest, disappearing out of sight thus putting her on edge.

Sakura did not know what to make of their retreat into the forest but she wasn't going to take any chances so on high alert she waited. The rustle of the trees was eerily calming, the green of the leaves innocently taunting in their deception, on the other hand time was passing without conflict and when one minute turned into three the pink haired ninja grew restless. Closing her eyes in concentration Sakura let her senses leak out, but instead of finding any presence of the clones she detected nothing.

"What the….?"

However before she had time to even question the utter abnormality of the event, a flood of all consuming chakra appeared out of nowhere, she didn't even need to concentrate to feel such a thing. What was more distressing though was that upon further inspection it wasn't just one huge chakra signature there were many, dozens of individual signatures. Sakura's quick analytical mind came up with an estimate of how many were surrounding her. Thirty-three. Things just turned from slightly bad to disturbingly worse. Any luck she had on her side took vacation and went to another individual.

Trepidation was suffocating the air but Sakura stood her ground, this was war after all.

With a quick tug on her leather gloves she brought her knees to a slight bend, tightening her stance. The rush of air told her they had arrived.

"Come and get me!" she growled out viciously.

And so they did.

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><p>Sasuke was tired of waiting.<p>

It had been hours since the transplant of Itachi's eyes and _still_ he was detained in the laboratory that Madara harbored for himself. It grated on his nerves that he had to sit here like a child, the itch to seek revenge more persistent than ever. They would all pay. He didn't give a damn that half of the nation wanted him captured or dead, the fact remained that whoever got in his way was going to be slaughtered. Ever since the truth about his elder brother came out Sasuke knew immediately that he had to avenge Itachi. To think he had been living in Konoha with those bastards…with those traitors!

Rage flooded his core and not for the first time Sasuke felt the insistent bang of betrayal creep into his frame. Konoha, the dear little justice seeking village was actually a lie. They played him for a fool and used his skill for their vile needs. While he was playing ninja with the rest of his rejected generation, the elders and the Hokage were laughing behind his back. They knew the truth all this time, not a soul told him that his brother was used and that he was actually good, the man he remembered him to be. Nobody in that village was worth saving, nobody his friend. Naruto was going to find out the hard way. Sasuke had no intention of preserving any bonds with anybody, bonds didn't save his brother and it certainly wasn't going to save him.

Remaining in one spot wasn't helping the Uchiha at all, sitting here and brooding about his intentions wasn't getting him anywhere. Madara had left a while ago stating vaguely he had a date to attend to and that plant freak had vanished altogether after a direct demand from the elder Uchiha founder. And Sasuke, Sasuke just about had enough. Decision made, he grabbed fiercely at the bandages wrapped tightly around his head and found the end of the medical wraps quickly enough. With fast precision, he unwrapped the bindings feeling each strand loosen as his arm continuously circled around his head. When the last of the gauze like material fell down, Sasuke held his breath, it was now or never. The power to make things right was just a blink away.

It would be so easy to give into hesitation, however Sasuke didn't. He understood fully that a complication could occur yet he knew resolutely that one didn't. The power that had dribbled sinfully in his being upon awakening ensured this, therefore without delay Sasuke ripped open his lids.

To put it short he had to close his eyes again. It was only a moment but Sasuke saw the world which was enough for him, the overhanging lights may be delaying the inevitable but he would get over it soon, very soon. It had worked, Itachi's eye's had prevailed! Quick to get this infuriating sensitivity over with, the Avenger hung his head low and brought his eyes into openness. The shadow of his bangs and hair made for a perfect shield from the overly blazed bulbs in Madara's laboratory.

Once he felt his eyes adjust Sasuke tilted his head, high and proud, ready to see the full results.

Instantaneously he noticed.

There was no longer the shroud of a hazy and fuzzy covering; everything was crystal clear to the point of sharp, almost near perfect to the first stage of the Sharingan. And this was just his regular eyesight; the unblemished persona of Itachi's eyes was to the point of impeccable. Sasuke was enamored by the detail he could see in the lab. The grooves in the stainless steel styled room was easily identifiable, even each aimless piece of dust suspended in the air he could see, the acute descent of every speck noticeable. But most of all everything was finally believable and so sure. Madara had briefed him on what the results were going to be yet to see it, to actually experience it, was another matter. It was a shame that the first stage of the Sharingan would no longer be but Sasuke hadn't argued with the repercussion of such a thing, if his natural eyes could produce the same development then so be it. What he truly wanted to see though, was his newly planted Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Would the appearance be altered dramatically? What new powers came with the sacrifice of his brothers eyes? Sasuke desperately wanted the components of such power to be revealed. Madara had yet to explain what came about in this new transformation, surprisingly for someone so big- mouthed with his intentions he was tight lipped about the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. While he had given him the gist of what would happen it was general, the vague execution of words he gave non-informative. The lack of information on his new eyes did make him slightly suspicious, more so because the elder Uchiha was the only one to know, however Sasuke's hunger to achieve his righteous goal was overwhelming. That minuscule little piece of knowledge would not drag him down though; he will just have to entertain the idea of finding out himself.

With that, Sasuke pushed himself up off the impersonal sterile lab table he had been sitting on. The stiffness of his muscles finally moving was annoying, on the other hand he knew that he was pleased to finally be doing something. He wasn't waiting for anyone's orders, he answered to no one, whether Madara knew that or not was irrelevant. Making his way towards the exit, Uchiha Sasuke took his intentions and fueled his temper. This consoling darkness was going to help him obtain his truest desire, the destruction of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"It was only a matter of time," he murmured dangerously to himself. "They all had this coming."

Before long he was at the door of the exit. It took one moment to put his hands on the handle and another to stop dead in his tracks. In the desolate surface of metal that was the door Sasuke saw himself really for the first time in a while. It made him distinctly sick, it made him obsessively mad. Mirrored back at him was Itachi's eyes.

"Itachi…"

It came out hushed and sad; the name startling him even though if came from his own lips. It was so ridiculously easy to tell the difference between their eyes, it felt like he was gazing at Itachi instead of himself. While he had the deepest of coal grey eyes, itachi's was distinctively similar yet his twist was the light grey flecks that danced in the middle. For a moment Sasuke imagined his brother beside him, they certainly looked alike. But Itachi was gone, dead, and he was never coming back. Never.

It was anger that made him look away; rage that made him open the door to leave, none of this bullshit would be in vain.

What greeted him was an endless tunnel, a cave like burrow in the ground which he guessed mazed off into different directions. Doors were scattered carelessly along the walls probably unused and unimportant. Comprehending that running around would be useless, the Uchiha decided to stretch his line of sense to see if he could encounter any chakra signatures in the vicinity. It would give him a direction to go in and maybe if he was lucky, a body to slay.

There!

At least half a mile East he grasped a signature. The feel of it was strong, a Jonin level ninja possibly even stronger if he had to guess, there was something entirely unnatural with it though. In the long run it didn't matter he could best anyone, with these eyes he could get the Hokage.

The thought warmed his blood the desire so imperative that it physically drove him to run in the direction of the Shinobi individual. The sooner he killed the idiot the better.

It didn't take him long to stumble upon the place where the nin was at. A few turns and twists in the musky man made labyrinth hardly troubling to the teen. Sasuke wondered who the unfortunate person was; after all they just won the honor of experiencing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

The clumsy made doors of stone didn't have a chance of stopping Sasuke. With an excited indecipherable tug, the stone doors flew open.

Then all motive to move and to kill left the black haired boy. Was this right? Who was the bastard that cast this demented illusion?

The familiarity of hands forming the seal of release was instant, the continuous mantra of kai a demand.

"Kai!"

It wasn't working.

"Kai!"

This was real.

If he could have rebuked what was in front of him he would have but his lips had died on him after the last whispered word of release, but something was building and his lips were itching to say something else…something.

"Sasuke."

The tone was said with surprise, with emotion, with familiarity.

It was said because that person was alive.

"Sasuke what are you doing here?"

Imposter, imposter, imposter! His mind was screaming. What are _you _doing here? His insides begged.

Then Uchiha Sasuke felt the word he was craving to say form.

"Nii-san"

Because after all, Uchiha Itachi was his brother.

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><p>"Well kunoichi, your quite a site bleeding out like that."<p>

"Go to hell!"

The only response Sakura got was a smirk, a delightful injustice that she herself envied at the moment. A few hours ago she got ambushed, alone and almost depleted of chakra. She knew that luck had run out on her but to think fate had given her this laughable gift was the biggest slap of rejection she ever endured. She was going to die.

Sure the odds were against her but Sakura had hoped, had strained to gain achievement. She fought and grinded her fist in the face of the enemy; punch after punch. She noted that if there was a god, a true being of divinity that he would give her the strength to get out of this bind, out of this disaster. Yet nothing happened. Even worse, it turned out to be more than an ambush; it was a trap, a rouse to eliminate her. It was too late though because at this very time, at this very second, fate had other plans for her.

It would have been nice to know this beforehand.

What she hadn't known was that the real Zetsu had been lurking in the shadows, black and white halves reunited and all. So caught up in the fray of replicated clones, she didn't notice the disgusting stretch of pointed vine headed her way. It had impaled her in her right side from behind, the instant it ran its course through her she had comprehended fully the magnitude of the injury.

Now with absolutely no chakra left to her name, bleeding and bound to the forest floor with reality in the form of chakra binds, Sakura was going to be eliminated.

"You know, none of your little friends are going to save you we have them occupied plenty."

She made it a goal not to respond back. He was just a typical criminal gloating about his victory. Her eyes stayed glued to him however his balderdash intriguing none-the-less.

"Oh and that Naruto boy, he sure is in for a surprise! Tobi had no intention of him ever fighting Sasuke, he's there now with the boy as we speak a special surprise indeed!"

Sakura's eyes widened. He meant Uchiha Madara! Hot anxiety glossed her body and crept into her voice.

"What do you mean?"

So much for not giving in.

She saw rather than heard first the low gruff chuckle that came out of his black half.

"It means you guys never had a chance from the beginning."

"But Naruto-"

"Is a fool. Tobi always intended to use Sasuke as his trump card, let him loose ya know? All that delicious pent up bitter anger makes for a sweet weapon, that Uchiha brat will have a field day getting his revenge. However Tobi will take care of the Jinchuriki personally and let me tell you little girl your little friend doesn't stand a chance."

The look on his damned face was so down right sure, Sakura couldn't believe this and she wouldn't. So what if Madara took on Naruto? Naruto was going to win right…right? Yet the more she pondered on it the greater the dread piled up. It wasn't until he addressed her again that she realized that she was struggling against the binds.

"I think I've indulged you enough."

In his left hand she spied her demise from earlier, screw him and his katana like vines!

It hurt like hell but she had to do it. This didn't have to be the end, she pleaded with herself. If she could just break free from these damn chakra fastenings then she could inform the Intelligence Division of what Madara was planning to do, she could warn them about Naruto. He was the only hope left she had.

But Sakura for all the training with Tsunade, the pink haired nin had nothing left to show for it. She didn't have enough chakra to heal a paper cut and she definitely did not have any left to break out of this mess. The blood seeping into the ground was testament enough.

A shadow fell over her and Sakura peered up at the last person she would see.

"Foolish."

Before she could comprehend the entirety of the action and retaliate with words, a low and breathless gasp ripped out her mouth. She could feel the slide of the object inside her; a back burner thought commented lightly that it felt like it could be bamboo. The nasty fermented taste of cooper sprang up in her throat into her oral cavity, not exactly the last meal she had been hoping for. It took a minute, maybe five, she wasn't sure, to notice that said object was still in her. Obviously the Akatsuki member wasn't going to take it out; at least he spared her the sight of another gaping hole.

When she followed the trail of green protruding from her chest to the owner she was surprised. Didn't he have the decency to leave? He had already gotten her; she wasn't going anywhere, well not anywhere on this earth.

It was hard to see his two toned face but Sakura saw something that made her second guess his intention for staying. Hunger? She couldn't tell, her eye sight was giving her trouble.

It seemed black Zetsu wanted to impart more pearls of wisdom on her.

"I took the liberty of missing your heart girl, although it's still pretty close. You see, I like my hearts intact; it is my favorite part to devour. So I'd say you don't have long but I'll be back later for you. I've never missed a meal you see."

She glared for all it was worth. The spiteful freak ate human no wonder she saw that repulsive visage on his face earlier. She tried, and it was hard, though when she gurgled up the strength to spit a bastard out at him it felt good.

"See you at dinner."

Then he left, taking the rest of his spawns with him.

It was supposed to be this great honor to die in battle protecting the village you love and the people in it but Sakura felt no resolution to her being given to war. Sakura felt empty, cold and ashamed. Most of all she wanted to live. Though unintentionally, she had let everyone down. She could already feel the regret from her Shishou, Tsunade would yet again have to mourn another person, ponder on yet another mistake. She wouldn't be able to help Naruto get back his precious brother, wouldn't live to see if that was even possible anymore. With what Zetsu told her, this whole war was a sham, a previously set trap.

An even bigger one than I stepped into, she internally choked.

There was no way out of this.

No one was even here with her. She didn't even know if her unit was okay. Did Kakashi fair well? No doubt he would be disappointed when he found out what happened to her. Sai, Ino, and the rest of the Konoha eleven, she would never see them again. Did it even matter anymore?

Sakura could feel the energy leaving her body, a haze was beginning to cloud her mind and everything felt topsy-turvy. She didn't even have the will to keep her head up and squint into the surrounding forest, besides it was a last ditch endeavor to see if maybe, just maybe someone might come. But night had fallen now, the evening coming to an end and Sakura wasn't going to kid herself anymore. Time was blurring with the ache. Energy-less tears started to trickle down evolving into Sakura's last company, lightening was striking twice in the shame department.

Alone in the dark, the pain was unbearable, however two open wounds could do that to a person. The pink haired kunoichi was counting the rise of her chest, the slow rattling of her frame telling her it was about time, it was coming.

One.

She would not die in vain.

Two.

There was one thing left she could give.

Three.

She begged fate for some hope though not for her but for her boys. She wasn't delusional enough to focus faith on only herself again but with her last bit of everything she would give herself to Naruto and Sasuke. She'd be damned if she left nothing and become trash.

Four.

Please let the impossible happen.

Five.

Naruto…Sasuke.

"Sasuke."

With the last of her breath she was gone, a forgotten memory evaporating into history, becoming a story that had a lousy ending.

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><p>Author Notes- Please Review! Don't be shy and have a vocal heart!<p> 


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